"Navwar Finally Closing Down" Topic

News on the naval Facebook groups this weekend that Navwar is finally closing down and will be gone in 5 weeks. The website already seems to have shut. Anyone wanting to visit the store – it should be open for the next few Saturday afternoons, approx. 12=4

That is a shame.
Thank you for the update David.

I know very little about Navwar, but I get the impression that he worked hard, made nice things and got the stuff out to his customers. That is laudable.

A hobby shop with a linked historical manufacture is very rare indeed.
See it before it goes.

martin

late ‘80s to the early noughties I was a regular. Always a great place to visit. Shame it's closing, but I guess all good things..

I wish him well for the future and hope he sells the ranges on to a UK based company..

I would go one last time, but the parking ended up as an absolute nightmare…

Wow, a number of dealers that are calling it quits right now.
Sorry to see NavWar go, I really liked their ships.

Sorry to see them go. Did they try to sell? No buyers?

Sad, but inevitable news.

Get well soon Tony, and enjoy your retirement

Thank you for confirming what I suspected David. I had noticed the website was unavailable over the last few days. I'm rather pleased I thanked Tony in my last order for all the excellent models he has produced and the great service.

I miss the Naismith 15mm Napoleonics they used to sell. They were almost the only true 15 Naps left.

Tom

Garryowen, I thought that the Naismith future was slightly more secure when Tony sold them on. How wrong I was, Tony outlasted NaismithRoundway in business by a number of years.

Was a regular postal customer at one point – until I had all the ships I could ever need (I know, how is that possible?).

It's strange to contemplate a world without NAVWAR, I hope he realises what a big influence he has been on so many wargamers.

The Golden Age of naval wargaming is over! This is very sad news and a great loss to the naval wargaming community. They are great models to game with and he had everything you could possibly imagine. The service provided was always very fast, even for across the Atlantic transactions.

I have spent very many enjoyable hours painting these models are preparing them for the game table. I have used them to run dozens of games over the years at many conventions and game day events. My NAVWAR models have provided hundreds of hours of entertainment for myself the many people who have played in my games. I will of course continue to use them as long as I am able.

Many times people have asked me where I got my ship models (mostly WWI) and I have always explained how to get them, but from now on I will have to say "Ah, you missed out on the Golden Age that NAVWAR provided to the community." I am heartbroken.

I wish Tony the best of everything in his retirement years.

Well that is sad news – nothing lasts forever, but it's the end of an era: Navwar has been there for as long as I can remember, with an astonishingly wide range of ships, and fast and friendly service (the need to post the order never seemed that much of a problem). In recent years I have put in some orders for stuff I thought I might want one day, so I do have a cushion, but there are still things I know I will wish I'd got round to ordering – I guess another reminder that you should never put off a purchase when you think of it!

I too wish Tony a long and happy retirement, and hope he realises how much pleasure he has given to so many of us.

I have known miniatures gamers with lives shorter than that company. What an amazing run.

- Ix

I have been receiving orders every month from Navwar recently and am grateful for the quality of work and attention to detail in both the creation of these wonderful models and the painstaking administrative work of order fulfillment and processing that went with it.

Thanks to Tony and his marvelous business for years of modeling, gaming and satisfaction; there are not many things in life I enjoyed as much as receiving a consignment of new models from Navwar.

Sadly, the messages accompanying each order have slowly confirmed Tony's unfortunate health problems and consequently the apparent demise of this great wargaming and modelling resource. I deeply regret that this 'golden age' seems to be coming to an end but am equally grateful to have enjoyed it while it lasted.

Hope Tony recovers and enjoy a comfortable and well-deserved retirement.

I called about 10 days ago to check the postage on a set of rules (which have arrived). I asked when he was closing and he said that the intention, if possible, was to keep running.

Apparently the original post was not entirely accurate, as this recently appeared on the same Facebook page:

Tales of Navwar's imminent demise seem to be a bit presumptuous. Several naval gamers headed to the shop this Saturday to her from Tony that (a) he's not closing down and (b) he doesn't know why people think that. The shop is still opening Saturday afternoons, nd he is still working through (a great deal) of existing stock – no new castings. So he's still good for wlk up and postal orders. The other good news is that he is looking to sell the business, so hopefully someone will pick it up soon so that he can get on with his well-earnt retirement.